 | WALES v AUSTRIA World Cup qualifying Group 6 | 26 March 1500 GMT | Millennium Stadium |
Wales manager John Toshack has launched a thinly-veiled attack on predecessor Mark Hughes after claiming he inherited an ageing squad of players. Toshack has been hit with a host of retirements and Robbie Savage's Wales' career is also over following a row.
And Toshack said: "You have to ask the question 'how is it so many people in the Wales side arrived at retirement age all at the same time?'"
Toshack's first competitive game is against Austria in Cardiff on Saturday.
He added: "We went to Azerbaijan for the start of the World Cup qualifiers last autumn - 10 months after missing out against Russia in the Euro 2004 play-offs with an average age of 30
"What happened in that time? I think that we lost a little bit of time there, which now needs to be made up as quickly as possible."
Toshack referred to the Wales' rugby union team's Grand Slam success as he attempted to outline the size of his task.
He said: "Speak to Mike Ruddock, the coach of the Welsh rugby union team, and he will tell you that before he moved into the job there were a lot of problems resolved for him.
"He's grateful for that but it hasn't been the case for me."
MMIX
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